Orange County Times Poll

Only one county resident in four thinks the effects of the fund crisis will last far into the future, and the overwhelming majority have given no thought to leaving. Has the Orange County bankruptcy made you think about moving out of Orange County?

Only one county resident in four thinks the effects of the fund crisis will last far into the future, and the overwhelming majority have given no thought to leaving. Has the Orange County bankruptcy made you think about moving out of Orange County?

The Orange County transportation authority--the largest contributor to the paralyzed investment fund--said that bus and rail service will continue, as will most major projects. But the authority has postponed a key Interstate 5 widening project in Anaheim. WATER The Orange County Water District asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to withdraw from the county's shriveled investment fund. Without the money, the district said, it is in danger of shutting down.

Thirty-seven percent of California workers know of co-workers using illegal drugs on the job, according to a new Gallup survey. That is a far higher percentage than in the nation as a whole and provides fresh evidence that California may have a more serious workplace drug problem than the rest of the country. The survey, released in Los Angeles Wednesday, also shows that California workers overwhelmingly believe employers should have the right to perform drug tests on job applicants and on workers suspected of drug abuse.

Both sides promise to muster large cadres of foot soldiers for the June 27 election. Both sides say their coalition will span the political spectrum. But right now, in the early stages of the Measure R sales-tax campaign that has become the centerpiece of the Orange County bankruptcy debacle, politics consists of each side facing off before the county's opinion leaders and its rainmakers. Last week it was the Orange County Auto Dealers Assn., among others.

Active in local GOP groups and a self-described "conservative Republican," County Clerk-Recorder Gary Granville admits he doesn't seem like the type to speak out in favor of a half-cent sales tax increase. "If someone were to tell me a year ago that I would be supporting this, I would have said, 'No. No way,' " Granville said. But six months into the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S.

Even in his home turf of Orange County, the most solidly Republican territory in California, GOP Sen. John Seymour is struggling to gain a big enough margin here to win election statewide, the Los Angeles Times Poll has found. Seymour, a former mayor of Anaheim who also represented the area in the Assembly and then the state Senate for nine years, was leading Democrat Dianne Feinstein by 52% to 39% in the survey taken last weekend.

Los Angeles residents overwhelmingly believe that police used excessive force in arresting Rodney G. King and that instances of police brutality are commonplace, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found. Nearly two-thirds of those polled, including a majority of Anglos, said they believe incidents of brutality by Los Angeles police are common, with 28% saying such incidents are very common.

Americans' love affair with the stock market is even more passionate in Orange County, where half of all residents own stock, compared with 43% nationwide, according to a recent Times Orange County Poll. Although county residents still consider their houses to be their biggest single asset, the poll findings clearly demonstrate the region's shift away from real estate and into the stock market as a means of saving for the future and building wealth.

The ponytailed little girl with dark brown eyes was quietly fascinated with the paper clip she had twisted beyond recognition. A few desks away, another student rested her chin on her hands, her eyes slightly glazed. In the back of the classroom, a 10-year-old boy fidgeted restlessly in his chair while noisily folding and unfolding several sheets of paper.